MAY 1, 2014, 6:21 PM LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2014, 6:23 PM
BY KIM LUEDDEKE
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
ENGLEWOOD – The long-vacant Lincoln School and the city’s firehouse will be replaced with apartments, a project that city officials are touting as the first major development to be built in Englewood since at least 2008.

FILE PHOTO
Englewood firehouse.
The City Council this week designated Englewood Builders Urban Renewal Company, LLC, as the redeveloper for the former Lincoln School and the Williams Street firehouse, and entered into an agreement with the company to build 186 one- and two-bedroom apartment units. In exchange, the city will receive $7.9 million for the property, which is about 2.5 acres.

Mayor Frank Huttle III, who praised the project as “monumental” for Englewood, said construction could be completed by the end of 2016.

Englewood Builders’ willingness to invest in the city is a recognition of its vibrancy, Huttle believes, and he predicted it would be a “springboard” to an economic expansion of the downtown.

In 2003, the city agreed to pay the local school district $11.5 million for both the Russell C. Major Liberty School and the Lincoln School. The Lincoln School, located on West Englewood Avenue, has been vacant since 2008. The Liberty school is being used for recreational and community programs.

Firefighters are still operating out of the Williams Street firehouse, which is next to the Lincoln School. The firehouse has had numerous issues in recent years, however, including ceiling leaks, broken urinals, cramped locker rooms, faulty wiring and pipes contaminated by asbestos. Conditions there have been repeatedly cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The city plans to relocate firefighters to a new firehouse on South Van Brunt Street that will be built between the Police Department and the ambulance corps building. Earlier this year, the City Council appropriated $7.65 million for the construction.

Englewood Builders is made up of two entities: the BNE Real Estate Group Englewood, LLC, and Sterling Properties Englewood, LLC. Both are based in Livingston.

Part of the agreement between Englewood Builders and the city is that it will make annual payments based on the amount it receives in rent, rather than pay property taxes for the first 15 years of the project. The agreement – commonly known as a PILOT – calls for the redeveloper to pay the city 12 percent of what it earns in gross rental income for the first five years after the certificate of occupancy is issued and people start renting apartments. That amount goes up to 12.5 percent for the next five years, and then up to 13 percent for the final five years of the agreement.

The redeveloper will pay property taxes both before the certificate of occupancy is issued, and then after the 15-year period ends, according to the agreement.

Councilman Wayne Hamer abstained from voting on the agreement when it came before the council Tuesday because he said it did not include provisions for affordable housing.

Email: lueddeke@northjersey.com

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